Official submission of Turkey for the 'Best Foreign Language Film' category of the 62nd Academy Awards in 1990.
The film takes place in Ankara, but the prison scenes were filmed in Istanbul's Sultanahmet Jail, which has since been converted into a Four Seasons hotel.
Based on a 1986 novella by Feride Çiçekoglu, who served as a political prisoner in the 1980s.
The character Baris derives his name from the Turkish musician Baris Manço.
Although the English subtitles for some releases of the film refer to pretzels, the actual food discussed in the film's dialogue is simit, which is a ring of bread covered usually with sesame seeds.